1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which inputs image data from which an image object is to be extracted, stores object data representing an image object, and outputs the object data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a multifunction type image forming apparatus which has a combination of a printer function, a scanner function, and the like has been widely used. Such an image forming apparatus can, for example, scan a sheet drawing, recognize a geometric model included in the drawing, and store the resultant data as a database.
In addition, in the recent years, wireless communication means which are connected via a network have been popularized, and digital image data communication has been widely performed in a network including terminals having different display abilities, for example, a computer including a database, and a wireless portable terminal. For example, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-241738 has been developed to allow proper display of digital image data on the display screens of terminals even in a network including terminals having different display abilities.
Consider, for example, an intranet in which a plurality of users reuse objects stored in a database by using an image forming apparatus, and generate new objects. In this case, the display abilities of terminals are almost the same. In such a case, the speeding up of browsing objects by users becomes the primary issue. In general, when a plurality of objects stored in a database are displayed in the form of a list, as the number of objects increases, the reaction time of display becomes longer, resulting in deterioration of user convenience. In addition, in some cases, a given user wants to inhibit other users from reusing a new object generated by the given user without permission.
Even in such a case, it is preferable to allow the use of objects by a simple method if there is an agreement between users. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-49972 discloses a multifunction image forming apparatus which can quickly search for the information of a desired document from accumulated documents by using a frequency of use. This multifunction image forming apparatus allows a quick search by displaying document names and the like in descending order of frequency of use and making a user select a document. In addition, the safety of a system can be improved by performing authentication using biometric information such as speech, fingerprints, and irises as well as user codes such as IDs.
According to patent Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-49972, the reaction time until many documents are displayed on a display unit does not become the primary issue. Furthermore, this technique requires a hardware device for recognizing biometric information, and complicated setting for the authentication of documents and de-authentication.